Solving Problems

Question : (1) Describe a problem, its nature scope and impact KNOW HOW TO GATHER AND INTERPRET INFORMATION TO SOLVE A PROBLEM (2) Gather and interpret information to identify possible solutions to a problem (3)Prepare a summary of the options providing facts and evidence KNOW HOW TO EVALUATE OPTIONS TO MAKE A DECISION (4)Apply a simple decision making technique to evaluate options to arrive at the best solution KNOW HOW TO PLAN, MONITOR AND REVIEW THE IMPLEMENTATION AND COMMUNICATION OF DECISIONS (5) Plan the implementation and communication of the decision (6) Describe which monitoring and review techniques could be used to evaluate outcomes Answer : (1) Description of a problem its nature scope and impact: A problem is defined as the dissimilarity between the concreted condition and the desired condition. Suppose an organization or any person has desired for certain amount of a particular year. But in reality they dont have the desired amount of expectations what they think of before. This is called problem. It can happen to anybody like any business organization or any institution or any people (Bouwman, 2005). For example: "We don't bring in enough interest on our short-term investments in this year" or "Children don't be aware of hopeful about their future." This kind of problem can affect the organization or institutes from various aspects like financial, production etc. (2) Gathering and interpretation of information to identify possible solutions to a problem: The Managers of the organization must be able to characterize problems according to the "gaps" between planned objectives and authenticity between what should be and what is. Control reports are tools used by managers to monitor these "gaps." The gap" is discovered in advance, the sooner it can be addressed to the organization head. The Managers must look ahead to future conditions and identify the gaps." In this state of affairs, the "gap," is between what should happen in the future and what the authentic condition is forecast to be made correctly. The Problems should be well-defined and, where apposite, limited, this need to be said also. The definition of the problem should take in the criteria to indicate when a problem needs to be solved. For example, instead of defining a problem as "not the same statewide distribution of services," it is more useful to define it as "waiting lists for services vary from no wait at all to a six-month wait," or "a number of people have to travel over 100 miles for services." Useful methods for defining a problem include: attribute inventory, blast/refine, brainstorming, brain writing, compulsory relationship, free involvement, idea checklist, interview, list reduction, nominal group technique, observation, paired assessment, stratification, and survey. (3) A summary of the options providing facts and evidence: The Managers should make focal point to their attention on important problems rather than unimportant ones. Pareto's Law states that 20 percent of the problems affect 80 percent of the results and vice versa (Gupta and Others, 2003). Screening problems allows the managers to give over their efforts more successfully and efficiently. The entity or the organization should think about the following factors when determining or evaluating the significance of a problem: Control: How much control does the group or entity or organization has over the problem and its solution? Importance: How serious or urgent is the problem? Difficulty: How difficult will it be to work through the problem to the solution? Time: How long will it take to solve the problem? Payoff: What is the predictable return from solving the problem? Resources: How easy to get to are the resources required to solve the problem? In the assessing the consequence of a problem, the entity or the organization should ask itself, "Does information of this problem lean on us to change past decisions, current operations, or future plans?" An affirmative answer suggests should be made. (4) Application of simple decision making technique to evaluate options to arrive at the best solution We all encountered problems in every sphere of our lives, but in a management context they are particularly important. In fact, its often claimed that the most important thing that managers have to do is to solve problems and make decision. Problem solving and decision making are closely connected. Choosing the solution, for example (Derivative problem), is basically about deciding which possible solution to adopt. Nevertheless, there is a distinction between solving and decision making. Problem solving involves exploration and analysis to gather information. Decision making involves using that information to enable decisions to be made that are likely to achieve the goal of the problem-solving process. In the sense, decision-making is part of problems solving, and so is integrated into the process. Some problems are quite easy to deal with but, unfortunately, a lot of the problems that you and other managers, supervisors and team leaders will face are anything but clear-cut. Often you will find that in addition to being difficult to solve: Problems are hard to pin down and describe clearly The causes are obscure There are several possible solutions, and its unclear which would be best The best solution seen difficult to put into effect. Fortunately, if we adopt a careful and systematic approach, there are few problems that cannot be tackled successfully. (5) A Plan for the implementation and communication of the decision: You probably taught of several situations where a little more planning and forethought would have prevented a problem from developing. You should always try to ensure that the problem does not occur in the first place. Failing this, bear in mind that the chosen solution to a problem should always include plans to prevent the problem happening again. There are six stages of problem-solving process: Stage 1: Recognize the problem: until you recognize that a problem exists, obviously you wont take any action. The early recognition of problem in your job is a skill that usually improves with experience. Experience will also tell you where something that might appear worrying can safely be ignored because its unlikely to turn into a problem. Stage 2: Accept ownership of the problem: Not at all problem that affect you are up to your personally to solve. If you do not have the authority or ability to solve o problem, it is usually wiser to pass it on to someone who does. Stage 3: Understand the problem: once you know that you have a problem and have accepted ownership of it, you must define it clearly, find out all you can about it, and collect information that will help you find ways of tackling it. In particular it pays to identify the causes of the problem. Stage 4: Choose the best solution: There are number of useful approaches to analyzing a problem that can lead you to a solution. Stage 5: Implement the Solution: When you believe that you understand the problem, and can see a way of solving it, you can take action. Stage 6: Monitor and evaluate the solution: After youve implemented a solution, you need to check whether it has worked, and whether it has had any effects that were not expected. Perhaps most important of all, you need to learn for next time. (6) Description of which monitoring and review techniques could be used to evaluate outcomes: The prospective solutions should be evaluated within the constraints compulsory by the entity or the organization, including the entity's mind-set toward risk. Sometimes risk is inescapable because the data that an entity needs for a good decision are not available. In this case, the entity should document the effect that the doubt has on the decision, so that these things can play a major role in evaluating the solution (Lederman and Stewart, 2005). The risk that a pronouncement will not result in the anticipated outcome and the sound effects of a wrong conclusion should also be measured. The entity or organization should think whether two alternatives are equally risky, if the benefits are significance the risk, and whether there are possibility plans in case the expected result does not occur. References Bessette, G. (2004). Involving the community. Penang, Malaysia: Southbound. 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